The present invention relates to a running gear for a rail vehicle, comprising a wheel unit and a cooperating unit, the running gear defining a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction and a height direction, while the wheel unit defines a wheel unit axis. The cooperating unit is connected to the wheel unit and cooperates with the wheel unit during operation of the running gear to drive and/or brake the wheel unit. Furthermore, during operation of the running gear, an airflow passes the wheel unit and the cooperating unit, in said height direction, at a first height level below the wheel unit axis. The present invention further relates to a rail vehicle comprising such a running gear.
In modern rail vehicles, in particular, modern high-speed rail vehicles, there is a tendency to close the lower surface of the running gear as far as possible, e.g. by corresponding shield elements or the like, in order to achieve several goals. One of these goals is to avoid impacts of pieces of ballast or other objects lying on the track currently negotiated, thereby avoiding damage of sensitive components of the running gear. Such a shielding concept is disclosed, for example, in EP 1 781 523 B1. A further goal of such extensive shielding of the lower surface of the running gear is to achieve a less disturbed flow leading to a reduction of the overall drag of the running gear, and, ultimately, a reduction of the overall drag of the vehicle.
A disadvantage, however, of this extensive shielding concept is that components of the running gear experiencing heating during operation (such as motors, gears, brakes etc) are not cooled any more by the airflow at the underside of the running gear. Hence, other cooling mechanisms have to be implemented for these components, which ultimately add to the overall cost of the running gear.